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A MODEL OF THE 

METROPOLITAN DISTRICT 

OF BOSTON 




MASSACHUSETTS 
U. S. A. 




COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS 



A Description 

OF THE 

TOPOGRAPHICAL MODEL 

OF 

METROPOLITAN BOSTON 

G. C. CURTIS, Sculptor 
WITH ORIGINAL ILLUSTRATIONS 



PUBLISHED BY THE BOARD OF PARIS 
EXPOSITION MANAGERS OF THE COM- 
MONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS 



BOSTONj, 

WRIGHT & POTTER PRINTING CO., STATE PRINTERS 

IS Post Office Square 

1900 




THE MODEL OF THE METROPOLITAN DISTRICT OF BOSTON - Bird's-eye View from the East. [G. C. Curtis. Sc] 



54641 



■"Wl COhti KtttlvEO 

OCT 1 1900 

Cofyrijfhl wtry 

H..lt:^.'>r7r.\.^3... 
SECOND COPV. 

Oellkfci^ In 

OHDER DIVISION, 

OCT 22 ISOO' 



COPTBIOHT, 1900, 
BT 

G. C. Curtis. 



A Description of the Topographical Model of 
Metropolitan Boston.* 



CHAPTER I. 



The Model. 



The relief showing the topography included within the Metropolitan 
District of Boston, exhibited at Paris, 1900, is a solid piece of plaster, 
thirty feet in circumference, weighing about a ton. The scale is approxi- 
mately five inches to the mile, 1 : 14000, and a vertical multiplication of 
six, the area included being nearly five hundred square miles, with a 
diameter of twenty-five miles. Sea level is shown at mean low water, 
thus revealing the beaches, marshes, flats and tidal streams. 

Boston proper is the centre, and the region within a radius of twelve 
and a half miles is included. It embraces the Middlesex Fells, Wakefield 
and Reading, with parts of Burlington, Lynnfleld and Peabody, on the 
north ; parts of Salem and Marblehead, all the islands in the harbor, with 
Nahant and Nantasket, on the east; the Blue Hills, Dedham, Quincy, 
Braintree and Hingham on the south, including portions of Cohasset, 
Eandolph, Canton and Norwood ; and on the west, Needham, Eiverside, 
Waltham and Lexington, with parts of the towns of Dover, Wellesley, 
Weston and Lincoln. 

The model is best viewed from the east, as in the frontispiece, looking 
from the open ocean up through the harbor to Boston proper. The season 
is supposed to be summer, the time of day morning. The coloring, though 
necessarily conventional, is founded on a natural classification and treat- 
ment, with values approximating those found under natural conditions. 

The model is based on the most accurate and detailed map yet produced 
of the area, compiled by the author from about three hundred of the latest 
maps, including the United States Coast Survey, United States Geological 
Survey, Metropolitan Park Commission, town, city, private and original 
surveys, photographically reduced or enlarged from the manuscript. 

In August, 1899, the model was begun, a two years' task being com- 
pleted by working double hours. Twenty-one people averaged to help, 
including modellers, sculptors, painters, draughtsmen and engravers. 

• In reading, open out frontispiece and map in back. A magnifying glass will improve detail. 



Though skilled with their hands, they had previously done none of this 
work, and all iiad to be trained. 

The size and detail distinguish the model, it being the largest of the kind 
yet jiroduced in the United States, and by far the most accurate. Such 
novel features of detail as houses, railroads, trees, bridges, towers and 
rocks are located precisely as mapped, and modelled in most cases with the 
additional aid of original photographs. The detail can be judged from 
there being some 2;>0 miles of railroad, with cuts, double and single tracks, 
bridges, embankments, carefullj' modelled to scale and graded ; 300 miles 
of stream, modelled and painted; and 200,000 trees, each separate, and 
located from the best maps and original surveys, the pine trees being dis- 
tinguished by both form and color from deciduous. There are 26,000 
blocks, correctly located according to the maps, and 2,750 miles of streets, 
modelled to scale in both form and location, making a network over all 
the model, all the streets in Boston, as well as throughout the suburbs and 
country, having been similarly reproduced. Dwelling-houses to the number 
of 157,000 are located and built up from their mapped ground plans. It 
is believed that a method for the accurate location and modelling of trees, 
houses, streets, railroads and rocks has heretofore not been employed in 
America. 

As the foundation for the model a huge marble-top table was built iu a 
circle ten feet in diameter, upon which was scratched with a steel point the 
meridians and parallels of longitude and latitude at intervals of one minute. 
This gave a true and unchangeable foundation, without which, accuracy on 
such a model could not have been maintained. 

The construction of the map was an undertaking in itself. Access was 
granted by the government departments at "Washington to their manu- 
scripts and several hundred separate photographs were made. These were 
fitted to the longitude and latitude on the table, thus forming a huge 
map, briuging together the Coast and Goedelic Survey charts, the Metro- 
politan Park Commission maps, the Geological Survey revised town work, 
and private surveys. These were all coutoui-ed to twenty feel, and iu 
many of the reservation maps, contours with an interval of two feet were 
used. 

A wax model was then constructed, based on an exact tracing of all the 
features from the maps. This was the longest part of the work, and took 
six months of constant labor from seven in the morning until ten in the 
evening. The wax model was adjusted to the surface of the marble table, 
which represented sea level, and moulds made from it. From these ten 
plaster casts were taken. It took two men to handle each of these pieces. 
The sections were remodelled and then put together on a large iron frame, 
and formed into one solid piece, weighing about a ton. The iron frame was 
made in the form of a reversed arch, of two and one-half inch steam pipe 



for the rim aud smaller pipe as ties. Over this was stretched a netting of 
three-sixteenth inch galvanized iron wire, upon which the pieces were set 
in a bed of plaster and tied to the frame with burlap aud excelsior. 

The next process was to dry the casts, and then came the painting ; 
this, though seemingly a large undertaking, — since every road and house 
on the entire five hundred square miles had to be outlined, the roofs colored, 
the streams lined in and trees and fields painted, while the sea-shore line 
was cut out in blue, — being one of the shortest parts of the work. 

The packing of this model presented a somewhat novel problem. Its 
surface was first protected by a strong wooden cover, about which a water- 
proof bag was placed, the whole being lifted by derricks into a packing case 
forty-two feet in circumference, and set within a system of car springs. 
This proved a successful method. 

Few will realize the amount of work necessary to produce such a model, 
but a careful study reveals some of it. The city of Boston, with the gilded 
dome of the State House, its principal buildings, the Common frog pond, 
and the Public Gardens, with lake, bridge and even the walks, are shown. 
The suburban towns, whose location is described in chapter III., with 
church spires and clustered villages, stand up as light spots against the 
green fields and darker trees. 

The Blue Hills, with heavily timbered slopes and granite cliffs and the 
observatory on the summit, loom up on the south-west edge highest of all. 
The Charles River winds in and out across the model, and the population is 
seen to cluster within 
its wide valley in 
Boston, Cambridge, 
Somerville, Brook- 
line, "Water town, 
Newton, Waltham, 
Dedham, Needham, 
et al. On the north 
the Middlesex Fells 
stands upon the plateau, studded with ponds aud reservoirs, aud covered 
with rocks, along whose sides is a good sprinkling of trees. Nahant's 
beautiful rocky shores and sandy beaches are plainly shown in natural 
colors, eveu the low seaweed-covered rocks along the water's edge are 
accurately modelled. The tidal flats have been located from the latest 
charts and painted a halftone between land and sea. Lynn Beach, the 
Lynn Woods (full of glens and ponds), the rocky shore of Swampscott 
and Egg Rock, come in on the north-east. The islands in the harbor, 
— the Brewsters, the barren Graves, and the Shag Rocks, — stand out 
light against the deep blue ocean. On the south lies Nantasket Beach, 
along which Atlantic and Point Allerton are prominent hills. Hingham 




Cot 2. — Blue Hills Range — from the Eaet. 



harbor, with its rocky islands, the "Weymouth Back River (east) and the 
Weymouth Fore River, west of which is the Hough's Neck peninsuha, 
with broad Quincy Bay on its inner side, may be carefully studied, as 
they lie near the edge of the model. Egg Rock Light on the island one 
mile east of Nahant, Boston Light with its tall white tower on Lighthouse 
or Little Brewster Island, the Narrows or Bug Light on the end of Great 
Brewster Spit, Deer Island Light (a red iron cylinder standing out of the 
water on the bar east of Deer Island), Long Island Light on the north 
end of Long Island, eighty-four feet above the sea, two low-range lights 
on the north end of Spectacle Island, sliowing a safe channel to the inside 
harbor, — are the beacons. Buoj's, painted correctly, red on the right, 
black on the left of the ship channel on entering, and spindles, iron rods 
supporting a ball, are placed in position, as are all other charted day 
marks. By these a navigator can readily fmd his way. 

The planning and construction of the model were left largely to the 
sculptor, a geologist trained at Harvard University, and the size and 
character of the work brought mauj' novel problems to be studied. AYith 
no precedent to follow, and a very short time to complete the model, many 
difficulties had to be overcome. However, the work progressed as fast as 
the maps could be compiled. 

It is advocated by several prominent educators that the model be perma- 
nently installed in some public building, such as the Boston Public Library, 
where it would form an interesting map for public instruction, especially 
for the schools, and a liandy reference for all residents of Greater Boston. 




Cut 3. — South-east Shore of Nahant. 



CHAPTER II. 

Topography of the Metropolitan District. 

The Metropolitan region of Boston * contains an assemblage of topo- 
graphic forms, increased in interest by the entrance of a division of the 
Atlantic Ocean into its very midst. 



• Situated between 40° 10' and 42° 31' north latitude, and 71° 49' and 71° 19' west longitude. 



The present surface of the land Is founded ou the underlying geological 
foundation, and in the Metropolitan region this includes a good variety 
of representatives : plutonic rocks, once existing as intensely heated 
masses deep below the surface, exemplified by the granitoid rock of the 
Blue Hills ; aqueous and stratified rocks, composed of sediments laid down 
in ancient seas, as the Braintree shales, the Roxbury conglomerate, and 
the rocks of Nahant (seen in cut No. 3), which contain some of the earliest 
known organic forms ; eruptive rocks, formed of the ejectments from 
volcanoes, as the volcanic rocks in Nantasket and Quiney ; metamorphic 
rocks, due to alterations of older rocks through heat, the subjection to 
burial and pressure, and to changes brought about by the atmospheric 
agents, found in the " felsite " of the Middlesex Fells and the Somer- 
ville slates. In addition to this instructive geological assemblage is the 
great mass of unconsolidated material brought about through action of the 
glaciers at the time of the ice invasion, which formed a covering of debris 
over a great portion of the hard rocks, appearing sometimes as isolated 
hills, though more frequently as large irregular masses of sand and gravel. 
The ice plucked boulders from ledges, and in some localities dug basin- 
like hollows in the bed rock. The transported material — rock waste 
picked up by the ice, known as glacial drift — blocked up many of the 
old valleys, thereby producing the lakes, ponds and swamps which are 
to-day so numerous throughout the region. The drift filled the channels 
of many rivers, turning them out of their old courses, and by thus divert- 
ing them inaugurated, when they chanced upon the hard rocks, the falls 
and rapids in our streams. The upper falls of the Charles in the narrow 
Hemlock Gorge will serve as an illustration of this sort of glacial innova- 
tion. 

The present topography descends from the external land forms which 
developed during earlier periods, some conception of which is of such 
importance that without it no rational idea of the meaning of the present 
surface can be obtained. When looking over the region about Boston, 
the feature which appeals strongest to the trained observer is the hilly 
upland, below which lie the broad, thickly-populated lowlands and the 
narrow valleys of the small streams. Above the level sky line of this 
plateau rises the range of the Blue Hills, as may be seen in the sea level 
view on the last page. This upland, whose continuity is so much broken 
by the great valley lowlands of the Charles and Neponset that it is likely 
to be unremarked save when especially sought for, is in fact a part of the 
great slanting highland which slopes from less than a hundred feet at the 
very seacoast, as at Nahant, Swampscott and Nantasket, to elevations of 
from 1,500 to 2,000 feet in Vermont and Western New Hampshire near 
the Massachusetts line. The rock structures are not in sympathy with the 
upland surface, but stand at all angles with it ; in fact, they are contorted 



8 

and deformed in true mountain form, both in mass and in minute internal 
characteristics, for this region was once a range of high mountains, which 
now through the gradual process of weathering has been lowered to its 
"very roots." The mountaiu-levelliug forces thus eventually produced a 
great lowland worn down close to the sea, with streams of feeble current, 
winding through a vast level region, without falls or rapids, the monot- 
onous plain broken only by a few of the resisting hard rock hills. A 
lowlanti of this kind has been termed a "peneplain;" the isolated hills 
rising above it called monadnocks, from Mount Monadnock in New Hamp- 
shire. The Blue Hills are a good illustration. The old peneplain is now 
the slanting upland, which was upraised bodily so as to tilt gently to the 
south-east. By this elevation the streams were given opportunity to cut 
down into the old lowland, through which, powerless to deepen their chan- 
nels, they had previously flowed, and to open out wide valleys in the softer 
rocks.* The broad expanse of the lower courses of the Charles, Mystic 
and JIalden rivers is a local example of such a valley lowland. On this 
lowland the great body of the Metropolitan population lives, the upland 
being more sparsely settled, and in the case of the Middlesex Fells and 
Lynn Woods is reserved for parks, while the monadnocks which rise above 
it, like the Blue Hills, are devoid of habitations. 




Cut 4 — An Esker Cut for Iload-ballast — King Oak Dill, Weymouih. 

OlacfatioH. — After the general dissection of the upland had been ac- 
complished, the streams having cut down their channels and extended 
their ramifying branches so as to break the once continuous upland into 
separate hills, the region was invaded by a great glacier. This ice sheet 
covered the north-eastern portion of the continent, and in New England 
was thick enough to bury the highest hills. It descended the general slope 
of the upland toward the south-east, scraping along the loose soil, breaking 
off projecting ledges, and giving the surface a general scouring. The 
larger part of the material thus gathered was dragged along and spread 
out irregularly as gravel, boulders and clay, known as " drift." In some 
instances the bed rocks were left bare, as in the Fells, but frequently the 



* See " Monograph on the Physical Geography of New England," by Prof. W. M. Davis, 
National Geographical Society, No. 9, vol. 1, p. 284. 



9 



drift was collected iu large quantities, and iu special localities assumed the 
rouuded form of drumlins (smooth lenticular mounds of drift simulating 
the form of an egg sliced above its longer axis — see cut 16) so common 
in the Metropolitan District, the State House and Bunker Hill Monument 
standing on such hills. As the ice sheet melted away, saud, gravel and 
clay were washed forward from its retreating front. Some of the glacial 
plunder was laid down iu lakes which were formed at that time, and ap- 
pears to-day in sand plains, common in the region about Weymouth, 
Quincy and Newtouville. In places the drift took shape as serpentine 
ridges, called " eskers," from tunnels under the ice (see cut 4), as at 
Auburndale and along the western border of the Weymouth Back River. 
The eskers furnish valuable road material, the sketch showing a cutting 
across one of these ridges made for such use. The drift also assumed the 
form of mounds and pits near the edge of the ice, which are known as 




Cut 5. — Kamee aud Kettles — " Point of Holes," Quincy. 



" kames " and "kettles," and are of frequent occurrence in this vicinity, 
being exemplified especially well at the "Point of Holes," Town Eiver 
Bay, as shown in the drawing above. 

Suhmerrjence. — The event associated with the glacial invasion, and one 
which played perhaps the most decisive part in the location of Metropolitan 
Boston, was the depression of the land resulting in the drowning of the 
lower parts of the river valleys, changing them into bays, their old chan- 
nels into estuaries, and producing a neighboring sea bordered by an 
irregular line of shore fretted with inlets and projecting points of land 
and dotted with reefs and islands. The harbor of Boston was thus made 
out of the old lower valleys of the rivers now entei'ing its confines ; the 
Charles, the largest or master stream of the region, opening the deepest 
channel, and thus affording the best protection for ships, and hence its shores 
the most attractive site for tiie early settlers. Outlying hilltops became sea- 
girt islands, as Egg Rock, Nahant, Little Nahant and Outer Brewster. 
Ridges rose above the water as narrow and broken reefs, like the Graves, 
the Shag Rocks and the Roaring Bulls, and projecting portions of the 
hard highlands appeared, as the buttress headlands of Swampscott and 
Atlantic Hill. Since these larger geologic events, ceaseless action of the 
weather, resulting in a slow though general decay of the surface rocks, 



10 



Las been at work on the land, and during the same time the activities of a 
powerful sea have brought about numerous modifications. 












^JUi 




Cut 6. — Points of Rock jutting into the 8ea — Nahant East Shore. 



Shore Action. — Along the shore the most exposed portions have been 
vigorousi}' attacked by waves, those being least able to resist having 
succumbed. The hard headlands have been eaten back, cliffs and sea 
caves hollowed out, and softer portions etched away, leaving projecting 
points of rock jutting into deep water (see cut 6). 

Rock Islands. — The Rock Islands, the now half-drowned hilltops, being 
a peculiarly distinctive feature in contrast to the drift islands in Boston 
harbor, the principal occurrences will be noted. Nahant and Little Na- 
hant, though formerly separate rocks over a mile from the mainland, have 




Cut 7. — Egg Rock — a "Monhegan." 

now been connected by beach growth with the shore. The best example 
of the lone sea island, a high isolated rock, rising abruptly at a consider- 
able distance from the mainland is Egg Rock (cut 7) — a drowned monad- 
nock or a " monhegan" (from Monhegan Island, off the- coast of Maine). 
This lighthouse island lies about two miles from the main and rises to a height 
of 67 feet. The outermost of the rocks which reach above low-water sur- 
face of the sea are the Graves (cut 8) , a narrow chain of low-lying crags, 



11 

once the top of an old land ridge, now swept by the seas in hard gales. 
To the southward is a lower and more detached group, the Roaring Bulls, 



Li »i i.ji i <iiiii.j;J !ri i i!L..>j4[^L"^ l « j| 



Cdt 8.— The Graves. 

barely visible at high water, and completely overwhelmed by surf in storm ; 
and behind them a more substantial cluster, known as the Green Islands, 
connected at low water. The Calf Islands, on whose western end a few 
houses have been built, also joined at low tide, form a landward side to 
this collection of rocks. The largest rock islands — the Nahants having 
been attached to the main — lie to the eastward of the Calf Islands, 
, on the very outer limits of the harbor ; these are the Brewsters, — high 
barren rocks trending in a north-easterly direction. On the Middle Brew- 
ster, the inner one, about a dozen summer cottages have been built ; the 
Outer Brewster rises to over 60 feet, commanding an excellent view of the 
harbor. The islands are composed of rocks formed deep within the earth, 
which, after ages of erosion had exposed them, rose as hilltops above the 
surrounding land ; and now having been half submerged, lie in this greatly 
exposed situation, eaten back into steep sea cliffs and under-cut with sea 
caves (see cut 11). Connected at low water and contrasted by its low- 
lying, dark and ragged rocks, with the high and smooth slopes and light- 
colored glacial drift of Great Brewster, is Little Brewster, or Lighthouse 
Island (cut 9). Here is Boston Light, marking the north side of the main 
entrance to Boston harbor. To the eastward of Light-house Island, and 
parallel with the Outer Brewsters, is a chain of jagged ledges, the Shag, 
or Egg Rocks. Hardiugs Ledge and the Bare Rocks, lying about two 
miles off the Nantasket shore, is a low reef on which a spindle or day- 
mark warning is placed. The inner harbor has a number of smaller 
rock islands. Hiugham harbor holds three of them. Slate Island lies 
at the mouth of the Weymouth Back River, Raccoon at the mouth of 
the Weymouth Fore River, with Rock Island to the west, surrounded by 



~r^f^^i^~~7;i 



^^ 




Cut 9. — LlghtbouBe Island — Qreat Brewatet beblad. 



12 

a growth of marsh. Hangman's Island and the Quarantine rocks appear 
near the middle of Qiiincy Bay. It will be noticed that these detached 
portions of the mainland do not lie in sympathy with the trend of the 
drnmlins. 




-J^.-^^^^t^^Si::;;^ 




OFF ATlANITiC MILU 



CCT 10.— Skerries. 

Skerries. — Detached portions of ledges lying close to the shore from 
which they have been severed, illustrated by the examples drawn, are 
called skerries. They abound along the Swampscott shore, Dread Ledge 
(see cut 21) being an example. The eastern and southern sides of 
Xahant have also a goodly sprinkling, and they are common about the 
rock islands forming the Brewster group, and off Atlantic Hill, Xan- 
tasket. 

Sea Cliffs and Caves. — Sea cliffs and caves, which are formed in the 
process of marine consumption of the land, ocear throughout the harbor, 







Cut 11. — Sea Cliffs and CsTes, Outer Brewster— Cliff in Drift, Long Island. 



and are strongest in expression where the highest land meets the greatest 
exposure to the most powerful waves. The Outer Brewster (cut 11) has 
some fairly good caves. Xahant (see cuts 3 and G) offers cliffs 60 feet 
high, and the south side of Atlantic Hill is a good example of a cliff head- 
land. AVinthrop Head (see cut 12) is a remarkably fine type of the sea 



13 



cliff in soft drift; Great Brewster (cut 14), Point Allerton (cut 13) and 
Long Island (cut 11) are further illustrations. 

Sea Erosion on Glacial Drift. — The action of the sea on drumlins is so 
well illustrated in Boston harbor that it is considered the best field known 
for such study, for which reason the following account is given. 




Cut 12. — WjDthrop Great Head 
a Half-eroded DramliD. 



The yielding glacial drift has been variously attacked according to its 
exposure and relation to the transporting abilities of waves and currents, 
and large quantities of this material have been removed. To-day a number 
of the loosely consU-ucted hills stand in what are apparently perilous 
places, so that it seems that the sea must wash them away in the next 
storm, but some protecting influence is usually at work. Point AUerton 
(cut 13), on the end of Nantasket Beach, boldly confronts the open At- 
lantic, yet its face is nearly grassed over, as seen in the sketch below, 
which shows that the hiU is not retreating so fast as some within the har- 
bor. Two natural methods of preservation are common ; the breakwater 
of boulders left from the retreat of the clifiE or the destruction of a fellow 
drumlin, and the forward growth of a beach, shutting in the cliff from the 
sea. The great drumlin of Point Allerton is protected on the north by 
the reef of boulders from the little drumlin, whose stomp alone remains, 
as may be seen from the sketch below, and on the east by not only its own 
boulders but those from similar hills now destroyed. These erratics receive 
the brunt of the sea, and further protection to the cliff is given by a narrow 
beach. Grovers Cliff is likewise fronted by a long reef of boulders, which 
stretches about a mile into the sea before its sc^irp. The Great Brewster 
(cut 14) which owes something to the shelter from the rock islands about it, 







CcT 13. — The Point Allerton Sea-cnt Dnimlins. 



14 

has been preserved in its exposed position by both its own boulders and 
the waste of the surrounding islands formed into a connecting bar. The 
east and south sides, protected by a brealtwater, are now much grassed 
over, but the erosion on the nortiiern side has taken on new activity 
and is cutting away at an old grassy slope, which had previously lain 
immune. 

When the soft material composing the drumlins is entirely carried away 
through the action of the sea, boulders of various sizes, which were col- 



>''&^^S' 




Cut 14. — Great Breweter from the Norlh-east. 

lected in the glacial hill, are left behind, and these, since they bear 
testimony to the former location and existence of the drumlin which con- 
tained them, maybe termed ^^ witnesses." Such "witnesses" have been 
noted in connection with Winthrop Head, Point AUerton and other sea- 
cut drumlins. They predominate at Point Allerton, and in Nix Mate 
they are the sole survivors (see cut 16). At "Ocean Pier," as m.iy be 
seen in the sketch below, they have out-lived the drumliu, which is said to 
have disappeared almost within the recollection of the oldest inhabitant. 



^m^i^' 




Cut 15. — Ocean Pier, Revere — the " Witness" of a Lost Drumlin. 

The bar of boulders south of Winthrop Head, the Great and Little Faun 
off Deer Island, are of similar origin. 

A series of natural examples of the stages of drumlin erosion may be 
selected from Boston harbor, with intermediate illustrations of the process 
of destruction between the intact lenticular hill and the skeleton of bould- 
ers left on its disappearance. In the series shown below (cut 16), Orient 
Heights on Breed's Island has been taken for the perfectly preserved drum- 
lin, and though some little cutting has doubtless taken place on its flanks, 







-^^^^'^ 






15 

it serves well as a type. Bumkin Island, off Hingham harbor, illustrates 
the first stages of cliff cutting, the waves having nipped both ends and 
eaten away about a fifth of the drumlin. Governor's Island, in the upper 
harbor, the location of Fort Winthrop, could have been substituted. 
Winthrop Head is a most ex- 



cellent specimen of the drum- 
lin half eroded ; its perfect 
contour, the height and the 
fronting reef of boulders, 
make it a type example. 
Prince's Head, on the southern 
shore of Peddock's Island, is 
an illustration of the drumlin 
more than half destroyed, 
about three-fifths. Great 
Brewster (cut 14) is perhaps 
beyond this stage. Point 
AUerton, with one-fifth left, 
illustrates the remains of a 
nearly vanished druniliu. 
The boulder reef at Nix Mate 
marks the finale of a drumlin, 
and its former existence is 
also established by the ap- 
pearance on the Admiralty charts of the year 1 
Island," a drumlin about one-quarter of a mile long. 

The most effective protection for the seaside drumlin is, while it endures, 
a beach formation growing in front of the cliff, broad and high enough to 
completely shut out waves from its base. Strawberry Hill (cut 17), the 
half-eroded drumlin in the middle of Nautasket Beach, is an excellent illus- 
tration. The base of the cliff, between which and the sea half a mile of 
beach h.as grown, is now somewhat 




Cut 16. — DeBtmotlon of BoBton Harbor DrnmliDB. 



81 of "Nick's Mate 



clogged with debris, but the surf has 




gS=fe^sUi.-'---? ■^ 'jS.T-ai^ '''•-^^^'-i-^'^.^tel^^ 



Cut 17. — Drumlins protected from the Sea. 



not long ceased to break at its foot, for the face is not completely grass 
grown, and much of the sharpness given through the former activity of the 
waves is still retained. The cut above permits a comparison with the 
drumlin of Orient Heights, and the positions of their respective water 



16 

towers is suggestive of the history of the two. At Breed's Island they 
have placed the stand-pipe in the middle of the hill, while on Strawberry 
Hill the edge of the cliff had to be resorted to as the highest point. On 
the southern and beach-protected side of Strawberry Hill, as well as on the 
harbor side, there is a low, grassy cliff which must have been cut before 
the completion of the Nantasket Beach barrier. A portion of the sea work 
in the inner harlwr is doubtless likewise due to the more powerful action of 
waves and currents before it became so sheltered by beaches on the north 
and south. 

Beaches. — The beaches have played an important part in the modifica- 
tion of Boston harbor ; they may be regarded as highways along which 
shingle from the shore and bottom is transported by waves ami currents. 
The pocket beach, numerous pretty illustrations of which occur along the 
rocky sliore of Lynn aud Swanipscott and at Nahant, lies in le-entraut 

'k^. "^^i "^-u. ^•°># 







Cdt 18.— a Pocket Beach — Swanipscott. 



curves between protruding headlands, a collector of along-shore waste (see 
cut above) . The travelling beach, which serves as a transport for shore 
material, is found in the district in two varieties : one connects islands with 
the mainland, the other forms a narrow barrier along the shore, tending to 
shut in the drainage from the land. Lynn Beach is an excellent example 
of the island tying variety, and in Little Nahant the process is repeated. 
Nantasket Beach is of similar nature, though instead of connecting rocks 
with the mainland, it has linked druralin to drumlin and tied this long chain 
to the rock headland at Atlantic Hill. Revere Be.ach Illustrates the second 
variety. It nearly encloses the waters of the Saugus River, having been 
thrown across the old bay, forming a lagoon, now filled with the sediments 
which have built the L3'nn marshes. Throughout the harbor numerous 
short beaches have utilized the waste from glacial drift in joining neighbor- 
ing 'islands ; thus have the hills which make up Paddock's Island been 
brought together, the two drunilins of Spectacle Island joined, and numerous 
smaller coalitions brought about. The earlier stages of this process may 
be seen in bars covered by high water, as between Nut Island and Hough's 
Neck, Great Brewster aud its neighbor, or Prince's Head and the main 
island. 

Spits. — Reefs attached at one end, called spits, are exemplified by the 
pebbly reef stretching southward from the boulders of Nix Mate (see cut 19) , 



17 




Cut 19.- a Hook Spit — Nix Male. 



and terminating in a hook-like point, and the Great Brewster spit, trailing 
westward from the island to which it is attached. Windmill Point, 
Pemberton, is a spit raised above high tide. 

Tidal Flats. — Another form of transported deposit occurs in the silts and 
sands which have collected along the borders of the mainland and islands. 
At a glance, the infringement of these muddy shoals on nearly every shel- 
tered place in the 
harbor will be per- 
ceived. Only in the 
mouths of streams 
where the current is 
powerful, in narrow 
passages with strong tides, or about exposed positions where the waves 
are too active to allow the deposition of fine sediment, have these flats 
been excluded. In the upper harbor a lee from the strong ebb tides has 
allowed the mud to collect along the outer sides of Governor's and Apple 
islands, while at Deer Island, Winthrop and Nantasket it appears on the 
inner side. Though a portion of the sediment is brought from the land by 
rivers, much has been derived from the sea, and especially in the wasting 
of the glacial drift. Thus the construction of sea walls along the bases 
of the most rapidly degrading cliffs has aided in the preservation of the 
harbor. 

Tidal Marsh. — The tidal marsh is a prominent feature in the Metro- 
politan region of Boston. Most frequently it represents the fillings of 
ancient estuaries and bays by deposits derived both from land and sea ; 
organic matter, such as grass and seaweeds, adds to the process, and 
wind-blown sand is frequently an important contributor. The rivers also 
bring their loads of fine sediment from the land, dropping them in their 
quiet estuaries as deltas. By such processes have the extensive marsh 
lands which border the many miles of shore come into existence. The 
mouths of the Saugus, Maiden, Mystic, Charles, Nepouset (see cut 20) 
and Weymouth rivers contain thousands of acres of such land. 







Gut 20. — Marehee in the Neponeet Estuary, 



18 



CHAPTER III. 

Location of Towns.* 
The cities, towns and villages included within the area of the model (the 
population being stated, since it bears a certain definite relation to the dis- 
tribution of buildings) have been classified in four divisions : — 

1. Northern border and Fells plateau. 

2. Maritime. 

3. Blue Hills and Neponset River. 

4. Western border and Charles Eiver. 

Northern Border and Fells Plateau Towns. 

Heading. 
On the extreme northern border is the town of Reading, with a popula- 
tion of 4,417.t It lies on a flat divide or watershed, between north and 
south flowing drainage, at the head waters of the Mystic, Saugus and 
Ipswich rivers. The northern division of the Boston & Maine Railroad 
passes through the western part of the town. Reading Highlands is a 
village about a mile west from the centre of Reading. 

WaJcefield. 
Wakefield, lying about a mile and a half south of Reading, between 
Quannapowitt and Crystal lakes, is on comparatively high land, about 140 
feet above sea level, at the head waters of the Maiden and Saugus rivers. 
It has a population of over 8,000. There is a junction of three divisions 
of the Boston & Maine Railroad in the town, the Northern, Newburyport 
and Wakefield branches. Gi-eenwood is a village a mile south, on the 
northern division of the Boston & Maine Railroad. 

Stoneham. 
Stoneham lies about a mile and a half south-west of Wakefield, somewhat 
isolated, on the comparatively high plateau of the Middlesex Fells, 160 
feet above the sea. It is the terminus of a special division of the Boston 
& Maine Railroad, the Stoneham branch. Population, 6,284. 

Woburn. 
Woburn lies two miles west, above the shore of Horn Pond, which is 
the uppermost lake of the Mystic chain. It is on the southern division, 

• Refer to map, last page. t Census, 1895. 



19 

of the Boston & Maine Railroad, having a population of 14,178. North 
Woburn two miles north, Montvale one and a half miles east, and Cum- 
miugsville a mile west are outlying villages. 

Bitrlington. 
The eastern portion of the town of Bui'lington (population, 574) comes 
in on the north-western circumference, west of Woburn. Burlington lies on 
high land, at the head waters of the drainage which reaches the Merrimac, 
the Ipswich and Mystic rivers. 

Lexington. 
Lexington, 200 feet above sea level, lies on the highlands which divide 
the drainage ilowing into the Concord and Shawshine rivers on the north, 
and to the Charles River on the south, through Hobbs Brook. The town 
lies on the Arlington branch of the Boston & Maine Railroad, with a popu- 
lation of 3,498. North Lexington, composed of a few scattered houses, 
lies close to the boitler of the model, being on the same railroad a station 
east from Lexington. 

Winchester. 

Winchester is built along the steep western slope of the Middlesex Fells, 
on the shores of Wedge, Abbajona and Judkins ponds, which belong to 
the chain of lakes in the Mystic valley, and empty into the Upper Mystic 
Lake, through a small, strait-like brook called the Abbajona River. 
Winchester is on the southern division of the Boston & Maine Railroad. 
Population, 6,150. 

Arlington. 

Three miles south of Winchester, on the edge of the plateau, lies the 
town of Arlington, situated between the Mystic lakes and Spy Pond, with 
Arlington Heights one and a half miles west on the top of the plateau from 
200 to 300 feet above sea level. On the Arlington Branch of the Boston 
& Maine Railroad. Population, 6,515. 

Belmont. 

Belmont lies two miles further west, along the escarpment, or the steep 
edge of the hills, frequently alluded to as the " Rim of the Boston Basin." 
Population, 2,843. On Massachusetts Central and Fitchburg railroads. 
Waverley is a village one mile south-west from Belmont, on the same 
railroads. 

Melrose. 

Returning again to the towns in the Middlesex Fells ; a low, amphitheatre- 
like depression may be seen in the very heart of the rocky heights. This 
holds the city of Melrose, in the upper valley of the Maiden River, of 



20 

which Crj'stal Pond, in the northern part of the town, is a small expansion. 
Melrose Highlands is a village one mile north and AVyoming a station one 
mile south from the centre of the town on the western division of the Boston 
& Maine Railroad. Population, 11,965. 

Saugus. 
Directly east of Melrose, among the irregular groups of rocky hills, dis- 
sections of the Middlesex plateau, is Saugus, on the Saugus branch of the 
Boston & Maine Railroad. Population, 4,497. North Saugus is a mile 
above, and East Saugus a mile below on the river passing through the 
entire length of the town, and bearing its name. Prankers Pond is a 
widening of the stream, about a mile in length, just above Saugus. 

Li/nnjield. 
At the head of the Saugus River the southern portion of the town of 
Lynnfield — population, 818 — comes just within the circle of the model; 
Pilliug's Pond, lying about three-quarters of a mile south-east, falling on 
the circumfereuee. South Lynnfield, on the eastern division of the Boston 
& Maine Railroad, is just south of Suntaug Lake, the circular sheet of 
water, containing a small island, just inside the area. 

Peabody. 
The outlying southern portion of Peabody comes in just east of Lynn- 
field, Needham Corner being represented by a score of buildings on the 
north-eastern limits. Bartholomew and Brown's ponds — the larger — are 
small bodies of water within the town of Peabody. Spring Pond, the 
largest of the three, at the corner of the towns of Peabody, Salem and 
Lynn, is fed by Tapley Brook, which crosses the edge of the model. 

Salem. 
The outskirts of Salem stretch for nearly three miles along the wild and 
broken country of the border. This swampy, irregular land is difficult 
for habitation, few roads appear, and scarcely a house. 

Maritime Towns. 
The maritime towns come next in order, including those connected by 
tidal waters, as well as those on the sea-coast. 

Marblehead. 
Marblehead obtains just a small corner, — -Beach Bluff, — where the 
land meets the ocean on the north-east. 



21 



Swampscott. 
Just south, the bold, rocky headlands (between which lie the short re- 
entrant beaches — poclvet beaches — see cut 18) of Swampscott protrude 
into the open sea, making 4 
a firm buttress at the en- 
trance of Boston Bay. . -^' - -^ - ~-i £^i-^ 

Off this headland is a 
small rock island, Dread 
Ledge, on which the gov- 
ernment has placed a day 



Cut 21. — Dread Ledge — Swampscott. 



mark, shown in the cut above. Swampscott lies on the Marblehead branch 
of the Boston & Maine Railroad, with a population of 3,259. 

Lynn. 
Next southward along the coast comes the city of Lynn. Population, 
62,354. With its clustered houses, blocks, factories and numerous tall 
chimneys it is a distinctive feature in the landscape. Directly behind, or 
north-west of the town, lies a much diversified country, full of steep, 
rocky hills, deep glens and over a score of lakes, known as the Lynn 
Woods. This is a natural park of over 2,000 acres. Lynn Beach 
stretches southward from Red Rock and forms a barrier behind which lies 
Lynn harbor, which, with the exception of a narrow channel leading to 
the wharves, is mostly bare at low water. The eastern division of the 
Boston & Maine Railroad and the Revere Beach & Lynn Railroad run 
into the city. 

Nahant. 
It is a mile and a half along the ribbon of sand, from the inner base of 
Lynn Beach, Red Rock, to its junction with the rock again in Little 
Nahant. Here the cliffs become more steep and rugged as they face the 




Cut 22. — South-east End of Little Nahant, Lyon in the Distance. 

open sea. A short stretch of boulder, pebble and sand connects the rock 
of Little Nahant with that of Nahant proper. 

This sea-girt island of rock, now connected by thread-like beaches to the 
mainland, presents more variety of form than any other piece of shore in 
the Metropolitan District. It maintains an average height of about 60 feet 



22 

aloug two miles of coast, and in places rises above this elevation. The 
shore increases in irregularity from the north toward the east, and at a 
point nearest Egg Rock skerries begin to appear, re-entrants make scallops 
in the shore, and bold and ragged points of rock jut into the sea (see cut 
6). The "East Point," as it is named, is the most wave-exposed head- 
land in the region, and its remarkable rocks present forms of marine 
action whose carving is unequalled by any other in the District if not 
on our Atlantic coast. The south side, facing Boston harbor, is lower 
and has the form of a bay, one mile across and half a mile wide, between 
Pea Island and Bayley's Hill. The shore of the bay itself is divided into 
five pocket beaches between low headlands of rock. The southernmost 
of these beaches shuts in the land drainage, forming a sheet of water, — 
Bear Pond. The rocky shore contiimes from Bayley's Hill to the western- 
most headland, Bass Point, where the western shore, bordering on Lynn 
harbor, takes a north and south direction. A wharf, at which steamboats 
land, is shown on this side. Nahant has a population of 865. 

Mevere. 
Retui-ning to the mainland proper, and passing southward along the 
extensive Lynn marshes, the mouth of the Saugus River, in which the 
Pines River, a tidal creek, is confluent, is met. The Point of Pines lies 







— i IT. J 



Cut 23. — The Revere DrumliDa. 

at the mouth of the Saugus on the blunt end of the barrier beach, of which 
Revere Beach — the State reservation — is a part. 

A group of drumlius (cut 23) rising in Revere directly from the marshes 
from 160 to 200 feet, and all trending in a north-west, south-east direc- 
tion, is now met. The Revere Beach & Lynn and the eastern division 
of the Boston & Maine Railroad pass through Revere. Revere Beach 
station is two-thirds of the way along the beach from the Point of Pines. 
Crescent Beach is at the southern end, at the foot of the first drumlin. 
Beachmont occupies the next hill, or drumlin, south. The population 
of Revere is 7,423. 

Winthrop. 
The Revere group of drumlins extends eastward into Winthrop, where 
nearly all meet the sea. The action of the sea on these peculiarly 
shaped yielding gravel hills has produced the rare topography included 



23 

within this town, and the forms themselves are remarkably typical of their 
kind. Grover's Cliff is the headland south from Beachmont. This cliff 
is cut in the larger hill of a somewhat irregular group of drumlins, 
and is over 60 feet in height. The escarpment is iu the compact yet 
yielding materials — sand, clay, enclosing pebbles and boulders — of 
which the drumlin is composed. The hill has been worn back nearly 
one-half of its former extension, being attacked both on its northern 
flank and eastern end, though the carving which the sea and weather 
have sculptured into the cliff has now been largely destroyed by dump- 
ings. A mile and a half further south along the beach, — of boulders 
and pebbles near the cliffs, grading into fine sand near its middle, — is 
another headland, an isolated hill rising abruptly to over 100 feet above 
the sea. This hill has the general form one of the Revere drumlins would 
present were it cut in two in the middle, i.e., on its shortest diameter. 
This is precisely what has taken place at Wiuthrop Head : the outline of 
the hill rising from near the western base continues upward on the reg- 
ular curve of the neighboring hills to the usual level top, then suddenly 
breaks off, pointing into the sky (see cuts 12 and 16). 

A short sand beach bending into crescent shape connects Winthrop Head 
with a small hill a mile south. Point Shirley, a truncated drumlin, pro- 
tected by a quarter of a mile of beach foreland. About half a mile 
beyond the hill the line of beach breaks its continuity, the tides main- 
taining a narrow passage about 100 yards across, known as Shirley Gut. 
Winthrop has a population of 4,102, and is connected by the Winthrop 
branch of the Revere Beach & Lynn Railroad. Deer Island forms the 
end of the Wiuthrop peninsula, being composed of hills trending similarly 
to those of the Revere group, the northernmost being sliced off along its 
longer axis, the larger at the southern end presenting a smooth, nearly 
perfect drumlin. Penal institutions and the sewerage pumping station 
are to be seen on Deer Island ; the outlet of the North Metropolitan 
Sewer is abreast of Deer Island Light. 

Chelsea. 
Directly behind Breed's Island (see cuts 16 and 17), across the estuary 
known as Chelsea River, is an extension of the Revere group of drumlins 
rising from surrounding marsh land, on which is situated the city of Chel- 
sea. Population, 31,264. A division of the Boston & Albany and the 
Eastern division of the Boston & Maine Railroad pass through Chelsea. 

Everett. 
Across the tidal creek " Island End River" a broad lowland rises from 
the marshes which merge into the drumlins on the east. Several thousand 
small, detached houses are located on the slopes of this swelling ground, 



24 

in the city of Everett. Mount Wasliiugton is the name of the high drura- 
lin which borders on the line between the towns of Everett and Chelsea. 
The eastern division of the Saugus branch runs into the town. Population 
of Everett, 18,573. 

Maiden . 
North-west from Everett, near the head of tidal water on the stream 
which cuts its narrow valley through the Middlesex Fells, is Maiden. 
Population, 29,708. It lies on the edge of a plateau, stretching forward 
upon the valley lowland and back a short distance into the hills. The 
Saugus branch and the western division of the Boston & Maine Railroad 
pass through Maiden. Oak Grove and Edgeworth are stations north and 
south, respectively, of Maiden ; Maplewood and Linden being two villages 
along the foot of the highlands at the head of the Pines River. 

Medford. 
The town west of Maiden has a location at the head of n.ivigation on the 
Mystic River, — distinguished by its tortuous meanderings, along its course 
through the marshes. Medford is likewise built along the southern escarp- 
ment of the Fells, and has grown back into the hills by following up the 
valleys of small, south-flowing streams. Wellington is the village and sta- 
tion where the western division sends off the Medford Branch Railroad. 
West Medford lies at the foot of the Mystic Lakes, on the Lowell division 
of the Boston & Maine Railroad. Population of Medford, 14,474. 

So7nerviUe. 
Medford extends along both banks of the Mystic River as far as the first 
bridge below the Medford bridge, where Somerville earns her right in the 
maritime group by a little over a mile of frontage on the Mystic estuary. 
Somerville is situated among a group of drumlins more irregular and mingled 
than those of the Revere hills, yet trending in the same general direction. 
College Hill, — -holding the Mystic Reservoir, — on the Somerville and 
Medford line, is one of the most distinct drumlins of the group. Prospect 
Hill lies further east. Mount Benedict is a small hill at the south end of 
Fellsway Road. Winter Hill is the western station on the Lowell division, 
which runs between this and Central Hill, adjoining which to the west is 
Spring Hill. West Somerville is half a mile south' of College Hill, on the 
Arlington branch. The Fitchburg Railroad runs through the southern part 
of the town. Population, 52,200. 




25 



Cambridge. 
To the south of the hills of Somervillc, on a nearly flat plain, bordering 
on the left bank of the Charles estuary, is Cambridge. Old Cambridge, 
with its many steeples, the buildings of Harvard Univer- 
sity, — Memorial Hall the most prominent (see cut 24), — 
lies near the head of the last southern bend of the Charles ; 
North Cambridge is near the Somerville line ; West Cam- 
bridge, a station at the branching of the Fitchburg Railroad ; 
Cambridgeport lies along the north shore of the Charles River 
basin, being built largely of warehouses and manufactories 
with numerous chimneys. Here is the broad "Esplanade" Memorial Halt 
made from the sediments dredged from the river. The town Tower, 

extends as far east as the basin known as Miller's River, — where the 
broad system of railroad tracks crosses the Charles, and the Charles- 
town district of Boston begins. 

Districts of Boston. 
CJiarlestoion. — The flat terminal yard of the Boston & Maine and Fitch- 
burg railroads lies between Somerville, Cambridge and Charlestown, being 
a prominent feature in the topography ; another lies to 
the north-east, across which runs a bridge into Chelsea. 
The larger part of Charlestown is situated on two coa- 
lesced drumlins, extensions of the Somerville group, on 
the top of the easternmost of which stands the Bunker 
.-il^af ;-;^-;n^ Hill Monument (cut 25). The clustered blocks cover- 
--' --^.aithf ~- ' iug the hills, the church spires and the docks, with the 
CIJT25.— Bunker navv yard occupying two- thirds of the eastern side, form 

Hill Monument. J J i J o i 

the prominent features of the place. 
East Boston. — Across the inner harbor lies the East Boston district, 
the closely built portion being situated for the greater part on three drum- 
lins. The wharves on the north-west and south sides of the East Bostou 
peninsula show prominently, as do also the roads diked across the tidal 
flats ou the eastern side. The Boston & Maine, eastern division, and the 
Boston & Albany railroads run through the middle of East Boston ; the 
Revere Beach & Lynn along the eastern water front. 

Boston Proper. 

Next comes Bostou proper, composed of small drumlins, extensions from 

the Somerville group, the most prominent of which are Beacon Hill — on 

top of which stands the State House — and Copp's Hill, at the North 

End. The greater portion of the city proper is composed of "made" 




26 




Cut 26. — State 
HouBe Dome. 




laud, aud a fair conception of the original dry laud may be derived by 
noting where the streets begin to turn, or by eliminating everything on the 
flat portions of the model where the streets are below the 
twenty-foot contour. This cuts out nearly all the Back 
Bay section and the South End, except a narrow neck 
along Washington Street, probably of the nature of drift 
and barrier beach, and takes awaj' the entire present 
wharf location, cutting out a cove about half a mile 
across from this district on the east (as far back as 
Faneuil Hall) and another of about the same area on the North End 
(reaching nearly as far south as Hanover Street). 

The prominent topograpliical features shown in Boston may be stated as 
follows : the Common, its hill with the Soldiers' Monument, and the Frog 
Pond, trees aud walks, separated by Charles Street from the Public Gar- 
dens, with its trees, walks, ponds, bridge and flower beds ; in the north- 
west part of the city, along the Charles River, Charlesbank Park ; Com- 
monwealth Avenue with its double row of trees ; the Fenway stretching 
southward from the Back Bay to Jamaica Pond, with drives aud bridges. 

Of the dozen or more bridges shown, 
the Harvard bridge, with its arches, 
counectiug the Back Bay with the Es- 
planade at Cambridge, is most readily 
noted (cut 27). Next below is the 
West Boston bridge, from the Charlesbank to Maiu Street, Cambridge; 
next Craigie's bridge ; then the railroad bridges of the Boston & Maine and 
Fitehburg systems; below the last two, the Warren aud Charles River 
bridges, running from the north end of Boston into City Square, Charles- 
town. The drawbridges and their piers are modelled. Following around 
the water front to the south the order of bridges is respectively, Congress 
Street, South Terminal, Mount Washington, Broadway and Dover Street, 
connecting the city with South Boston. 

The wharves with their warehouses extend from the north- A 

east end to South Boston, the most prominent ^^ 
being Battery, Lincoln, Lewis, Commercial, T, 
Long, Central, India and Rowe's. 

Of the buildings, the State House, with its 
gilded dome (cut 26), stands on tlie top of the 
highest hill, first in prominence ; just east is the 
tall Ames building ; a little south, at the head of ' 
the Common, stands the high steeple of the Park New ou South 
Street Church (cut 28) ; on the opposite corner Tower, 
the tower of the Park Square station ; at the south-west end of the Pu))lic 
Gardens the steeple of the Arlington Street Church ; continuing down 



Cot 27. — Harvard Bridge. 




m 



"f^^\ 



Out 28.— 
Steeple Park 
Street Church. 




27 

Boylston Street, Trinity Cliurcb, witli its pyramidal roof (cut 20) ; next 
the Museum of Fine Arts ; and across Cople}' Square tlie Public Library, 
opposite which is the bell-tower of the New Old South Church, 
248 feet high (cut 30). Other steeples, to the number of 
forty-flve, were modelled. 

All the railroads coming in from the south can be followed 
to their terminus, the South Union Station ; all from the 
north, except those connecting with the East Boston Ferry, 
are obliged to come together in Charlestown and Cambridge, Tower Trinity 
and to cross the bridges, as shown, to the North Union Station. 

South Boston. 
South Boston, lying south-east from the city proper, is built upon an 
extension of the Somerville group of drumlins and artificial land, similar to 
Boston. The reservoir appearing at the top of the highest hill, Dorchester 
Heights, is being replaced by a school-house. On the north-eastern end 
lies a broad expanse of flat, " made" land, terminal grounds of the New 
York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad, and the site of the new Common- 
wealth dock. On the eastern end of South Boston, or City Point, the 
Marine Park, with its crescent-shaped Pleasure Bay, is very prominent. 
On the northern end of the crescent. Castle Island, — a small drumlin, on 
which stands Fort Independence, has been joined by a wooden bridge, and 
on the south the Marine Pier completes the artificial bay ; three small ponds 
have been constructed in the park. The broad Columbia Road reaches from 
City Point, along the northern reconstructed shore of Old Harbor on its 
way through Dorchester to Franklin Park. 

Out-lying Districts of Boston. 

Dorchester. — The leading out- lying districts of Boston are considered 
to be as follows : Dorchester, west from Dorchester Bay, — the mouth of 
the Neponset River, — the irregular glacial hills of which, averaging about 
120 feet in altitude, extend westward into the higher lauds of Roxbury. 
Between the two districts runs the Midland division of the New York & 
New England Railroad. 

Bo.vbunj. — Parker Hill is a high drumlin (over a rock core), on the 
eastern border of the Fens on which, at 200 feet, is the Parker Hill Reser- 
voir. Between Dorchester and Roxbury lies Franklin Field, the broad, 
level play ground, and across the Blue Hills Parkway — a continuation of 
the Columbia Road — Boston's largest park reservation, Franklin Park, in 
which the roads, ponds, trees and rocks have been modelled from a very 
elaborate map. 



28 




Cut yi. — a CharacterlB{ic Rock Hill tii Btony Brook Reservation. 



Jamaica Plain. — TVest of the park, iu the valley of Stony Brook, along^ 
the east shore of Jamaica Pond, lies Jamaica Plain, on the Boston & 

Provideuce division. 
South of Jamaica 
Pond, connected 
both with Franklin 
Park and the Fen- 
way by a park road, 
are the hills of the 
Arnold Arboretum, 
the tallest nearly 200 
feet in height. This preserve connects with the Stony Brook Eeservatiou of 
460 acres, whose rocky topography (see cut 31) is shown along the head 
waters of Stony .Brook. 

Roslindale and West Roxbury. — On the eastern side of this connecting^ 
road, the West Roxbury Parkway, is Roslindale, on the West Roxhury 
branch of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad ; on the west- 
ern side, reaching to the Charles River and on the same railroad, is West 
Roxbury. 

Mattapan. — Mattapau lies about two miles east of Roslindale, at the 
Upper Falls, on the Neponset River. It is on the Midland branch railroad, 
and the terminus of the Milton branch. A metropolitan parkway passes, 
through Mattapan to the Blue Hills Reservation. 

Lower Mills is situated at the lower falls of the Neponset. Below the 
lower fails the river meanders for about two miles through tidal marshes 
(see cut 20) , where on tlie northern side of its estuary lies the district of 
Neponset. The Old Colony and Milton Railroad branches joint here. 

Brighloa and Allston. — Turning back once more to the Charles River, 
the Brighton district is seen along the rigiit bank, just west of the lower 
bend ; the Chestnut Hill reservoirs lying to the south. Allston is on the 
eastern side of the bend, in the flat lowland country, both districts being 
on the Boston & Albany Railroad. 

The population of Boston in 1895 was 496,920, and is figured in 1900 
at 560,892. 

BrooMine. 
Brookline, though hot a port of entry, comes so near the basin of tlie 
Charles that it has been included iu the maritime group. The town is 
situated on one of the highest districts in the vicinity of Boston, a large 
portion being over 200 and a number of hills reaching more than 300 feet 
in altitude. It is thus the head waters of a number of streams flowing in 
several directions, and a natural divide to drainage running north and west 
into the Charles, south into the Neponset and east into the harbor. The 
two basins of the Chestnut Hill Reservoir lie on the western border, Jamaica 



29 

Poud and the Fenway on the eastern, and the Brookline Reservoir half-way 
between. The villages are Long wood on the eastern border near the Fen- 
way, Cottage Farm, and Reservoir Station on the western line near the 
Chestnut Hill Reservoir. The principal Hills are Walnut, near the southern 
line, over 300 feet, Aspinwall and Corey on the north-western end, the 
latter a fine specimen of the drumlin type. The population of Brookline 
is 16,164. 

Quincy. 

Continuing southward along the shore of Boston harbor, and crossing the 
mouth of Nepouset River, one comes to the confines of (Quincy. The town 
is irregular in outline, lying between the Neponset on the north and Wey- 
mouth Fore River on the south, with a very long coast line of 20 miles on 
the east, and the rocky elevations of the Blue Hills rauge on the west. A 
broad reach of marsh land extends into the Neponset estuary between the 
mouth of the Nepouset River and broad Quiuey Bay. At the base of this 
lies the village of Atlantic, on the Old Colony Railroad. On the outer end 
of the eastern extension of this marsh is Squantum, rising to over 100 feet, 
being made up of glacial drift and much rock. The rocky shore is irregular 
and interesting. From near the northern part a road has been built across 
the tidal flats to Moon Island, carrying the main Boston drainage sewer, 
which has its outlet reservoirs at Moon Head. 

Southward comes the low Wollaston shore, sandy drift fronted by broad 
flats. The Half Moon is a detached portion of this shore surrounded by 
mud flats whose grassy top is covered at high water. Wollaston is a settle- 
ment stretching back into the group of hills between Sachem and Blacks 
creeks ; a station on the Old Colony Railroad. 

Quincy Centre is the next station south. It is at the head of Town River 
Bay on Town Brook. 

Another peninsula three miles south of Squantum, extending two miles 
into the harbor, forms the southern limit of Quincy. This is Hough's 
Neck, composed of rock and glacial drift. Nut Island is a small drumlin 
half eaten away by the sea, connected to the hill at the end of Hough's 
Neck — -a drumlin 100 feet high — by a bar of pebbles. At bigh water 
the outer hill is an island. Rock Island is an isolated rock surrounded 
by salt marsii, which connects it with Hough's Neck and the main land. 
Raccoon Island is a small rock island just east of Rock Island Head, the 
easternmost point of Hough's Neck. 

Across the shallow bay indenting the eastern shore of Hough's Neck — 
Rock Island Cove — is the small hamlet of Germautown, on a flat, sandy 
plain. 

Tlie lower point on the opposite side of Town River Bay is (Juiucy Point. 
The hilly ridge jutting into the bay above Quincy Point is called the " Point 
of Holes," its significance being in the bowl-like depressions or glacial kettle 



30 

holes witli which it is filled ; the sketch (cut 5) is from the section of these 
mounds and hollows, Ij'ing along the river. 

South Quincy is on Hayward's Creek — the second above the bridge. 
West Quincy lies back on the eastern foothills of the Blue Hills Range, on 
the Granite branch of the Old Colony Railroad. Quarry excavations will 
be observed in this portion of the town. Population of Quincy, 20,712. 

Weymouth . 
Weymouth and Weymouth Landing lie at the head of tide-water on 
Weymouth Fore River. The long, irregular peninsula between Weymouth 
Fore and Weymouth Back rivers includes several of the villages of the 
town of Weymouth, whose population is 11,291. North Weymouth is 
situated on a sandy plain, about one mile east of Quincy Point, directly 
behind Weymouth Great Hill, the high, roundish drumlin showing a cliff 
along the Weymouth Fore River. Grape Island — two glacial hills (one 
80 feet) — and Slate, a rock island, lie at the mouth of the Weymouth 
Back River. The collection of buildings at the lower sharp bend in the 
river is the Phosphate Works. Between Great Hill and East Weymouth, 
which lies at the head of Back River, and at the foot of Whitman's Pond, — 
on the South Shore brauch of the Old Colony Railroad, — is a very irregu- 
lar, wooded country. A steep and narrow ridge extends from East 
Weymouth down the western side of the Back River; this winding serpen- 
tine gravel ridge, or esker, the bed of an old glacier stream, belongs to the 
assemblage of concomitant glacial forms, sand plains, kettle holes, and 
kames which predominate in this locality. 

Hingliam. 

Another peninsula lying between the Fore River and the wide re-entrant 
north-east — Hingham Harbor — includes the lower portion of the town 
of Hingham. It is hilly and sparsely populated. Crow Point, the north- 
eastern hill, is the location of the Downers Lauding steamboat wharf; 
and continuing south-west, Otis Hill, about 220 feet, Squirrel, 144 feet, 
and Bakers Hill, 198 feet, are the most prominent heights. 

West Hingham is a small settlement on the South Shore branch of the 
Old Colony Railroad, on the lowland about one mile east of East Wey- 
mouth. Hingham harbor is broad and shallow, a narrow, tortuous chan- 
nel winding in among its rock islands, Langley, the outer. Ragged, the 
western, and Sailors, the eastern. Button Island is a small lump in the 
upper part of the harbor, behind which lie the wharves of the town. 
Hingham is on the South Shore brauch of the Old Colony Railroad. 
Population, 4,819. A peninsula consisting of several hills forms the 
eastern side of the harbor. AVorld's End, two coalesced drumlius, is a 



31 

north-eastern extension, a narrow beach connecting it with Planters Hill, 
which is 120 feet above low water. On the eastern side of this neck of 
land is the estuary of the Weir Eiver, which heads some half dozen miles 
back into the country. 

Hull. 

The eastern extension of the "Weir River is the channel leading to the 
steamboat lauding at Nantasket Pier, which is included in the town of Hull. 
The settlement on Atlantic Hill lies just on the border of the model, where 
the land meets the sea. This rocky headland, over 60 feet in altitude, 
gives a firm support to the southern limit of Boston Baj', to which is tied 
the dozen yielding glacial hills included in the long Nantasket spit. From 
Atlantic Hill to Point Allertou, the northern limit, there extends for over 
three miles the cleanest aud most interesting sand beach in the metro- 
politan area, a portion of which belongs to the metropolitan reservations. 
No rocks outcrop on the spit north from its base at Atlantic Hill, and the 
beach is composed mainly of materials selected from the included drift 
hills, being for the most part of quartz sand, ground fine by the powerful 
action of the waves on this fully exposed coast. Nantasket is the beach 
settlement, with hotels and pavilions, between Atlantic and the next hill 
south, — Sagamore Head. The latter, 80 feet in altitude, is now pro- 
tected from the waves by the beach before it. Directly behind, in the 
lagoon-like waters of Weir River, extends Hampton Hill, connected by 
marsh growth. The next hill south is White Head, likewise protected by 
a foreland of beach growth ; directly west a narrow neck of glacial drift 
extends into the inner harbor. Bumkin Island (see cut 16), a small drum- 
lin of over 60 feet altitude, with a cliff about it where it has been slightly 
nipped by waves, lies less than one-half mile north-west of the inner end 
of White Head. Continuing along Nantasket Beach, which now broadens, 
including on the inner side a considerable portion of marsh and a few salt 
water ponds (the earlier stage of marsh filling) , enclosed by a narrow beach 
thrown up by waves sweeping across the inner harbor, comes Strawberry 
Hill. A water tower stands on the edge of the cliff of this half-destroyed 
drumlin. The base of the cliff has been shut in from the sea by half a 
mile of beach growth. Sand dunes appear both on the south side of 
Strawberry Hill, along the open sea, aud on the northern, following close 
along the shores of the harbor. It will be noticed that the roads built 
up across this flat land run in nearly straight lines, — a characteristic of 
highways on lands of similar nature. A mile further south, at the end of 
Nantasket Beach, is another hill of the same kind as Strawberry Hill, — 
Point Allerton (see cut 13), a well-formed drumlin over 100 feet high, with 
a cliff of about 80 feet, cut back about a third of its length. 

From Point Allerton the shore takes a sudden bend to the westward 
along a barrier of pebbles, known as Stony Beach, the railroad passing 



32 

behind Point Allerton and in front of Nantasket Hill, on whose top forti- 
ficalions are shown. Joined to this hill is another drumlin, about 20 feet 
lower, around which is th^ main settlement of Hull. Behind these two 
hills lies Little Hog Island, a low patch of glacial drift. Windmill Point 
is the westernmost extension of the Nantasket strip. It is a low spit made 
mostly of marine shingle, on whose inner side is the steamboat landing at 
Pemberton and the terminus of the Nantasket Beach Railway. Hull has a 
population of 1,044. 

Blue Hills and Neponset River Towns. 

Braintree. 
Turning to the towns of the Blue Hills range, Braintree appears on a 
plain under the south-east slope of Blue Hill, and for the greater part be- 
tween the upper courses of Weymouth Fore River and Town Brook, in 
whose drainage basin lies the chain of lakes including Great and Little 
ponds. Braintree Centre is at the junction of the Old Colony, South Shore 
& Granite branches of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad. 
About a mile and a quarter south, on the Old Colony branch, is South 
Braintree; East Braintree being about an equal distance east of the junc- 
tion, where the South Shore branch crosses the Fore River. Population, 
5,311. 

Iiandol2)h. 
Randolph lies on a comparatively flat plain, which abuts against the 
steep southern slope of the Blue Hills. The land is relatively high, about 
200 feet above mean sea level, being the source of streams flowing west 
into the Charles and east into Weymouth Fore River. Ponkapoag is the 
pond about a mile long lying along the western border of the town, 
Hoosicwhisick or Houghton's Pond is a small body of water on the plain 
just below the steep escarpment of Houghton's Hill, — a peak of the Blue 
Hills 430 feet high, — being the source of Monatiquot stream, which re- 
ceives the southern drainage of the Blue Hills. The village of Randolph 
falls just without the model, on the Taunton division of the Old Colony 
Railroad. Population, 3,694. 

Canton. 
A triangular portion of the northern part of Canton comes upon the 
area, consisting of the western slope of the Randolph plain, which 
carries the drainage to the Neponset River, here consisting of tortuous 
meanderings through the flat marshes which extend about half a mile on 
either side, — the Fowl Meadows, takings of the Metropolitan Park Com- 
mission. This portion of the Neponset River, modelled from the elaborate 
Board of Health maps, is one of the best examples of a stream meander- 



33 

ing iu its low flood plain afforded by tLie Metropolitan District. The flat 
plain allows the construction of tiie straight line of railroad, built up 
several feet above the marsh. Canton has a population of 4,636, but the 
principal villages are not within the limits of the model. 

Milton. 

The town of Milton, containing the highest land in the Metropolitan 
District, lies between the northern slope of Blue Hills (see cut 2), includ- 
ing the crest of the range, — Great Blue Hill, — ■ and the Neponset River. 
It thus includes not only the greatest elevation above sea level, 640 feet, 
but the maximum topographic relief as well, since it reaches low tide level 
in the Neponset estuary. More than this, the location is of geographic 
importance, since it is the highest peak so near our Atlantic coast south 
from Mount Desert, Me. 

The Blue Hills form an isolated range of hard, crystalline rocks, about 
five miles long, and from one to two miles broad, rising abruptly from the 
plain on the south, and sloping gradually to the Neponset River on the 
north and west, and on the east to the sea. The steeper slopes of these 
little residual mountains are of bare rock, especially on the southern side, 
where there is little soil and the formation out-crops in steep faces which 
supply the lower slopes with a talus of heavy angular boulders. Numerous 
streams course down the gullies, and the frequent notches are obstructed 
with ponds and swamps. While the tops of the higher hills are generally 
bare, the slopes to a large extent are heavily wooded with deciduous and 
evergreen trees. The principal hills are as follows : Great Blue Hill, the 
extreme western limit and the summit of the range, on which stands the 
Blue Hill Observatory ; and continuing eastward along the crests, Walcott 
Hill, 470 feet high, Houghton Hill, 431 feet, above Hoosicwhisick Pond, 
north of which is Hancock Hill, 510 feet, with its steep rocky eastern 
face ; across the pass through which runs the road, Hillside Street, Tucker 
Hill, 449 feet. The next prominent hill directly east is Buck Hill, 500 
feet. Randolph pass at 250 feet cuts across a range at the foot of this 
height, being the route followed by the street cars. On the opposite side is 
Hawk Hill, 436 feet. Chicatawbut, the second highest peak in the metro- 
politan area, is the large hill north-east. Rattlesnake Hill lies on the 
eastern end of the range, the last five hills being within the boundaries of 
Quincy. The Blue Hills range and adjacent lands, an area of about 5,000 
acres, belong to the metropolitan park system, and its remarkably detailed 
map of the Blue Hills Reservation — scale 1 : 6,000, contour interval 5 feet, 
■with individual rocks and trees — was used on this section. The Milton 
Branch Railroad comes into the northern part of the town along the 
Neponset River. Milton Mills, situated on this road, is at the lower falls 
of the Neponset. East Milton lies on the Granite branch of the Old 

Lffc. 



34 

Colony Railroad. Milton Centre is on Pine Tree Brook, near Ice Pond, 
Blue Hills post-office near the head of the same brook, on the Blue 
Hills Parkway. Milton has a population of 5,580. 

Hyde Park. 
Hyde Park lies north of Milton, in the valley of the Neponset, at its 
junction with Mother Brook. The stream has by artificial trenching been 
made to tap the waters of the Charles and to carry a regulated amount 
through the lower Neponset on a shorter course to the sea, — an inter- 
vention of the natural methods of river piracy. The southern half of the 
Stony Brook Reservation showing the woods and a considerable amount of 
rock exposure, lies near the western border of Hyde Park. Brush Hill, 
240 feet, stands on the southern town line, with a reservoir and stand pipe 
on its top. Clarendon Hills is the settlement among the rolling lands in 
the northern part of the town, Fairmount the village near the junction 
of Mother Brook. Readville lies between the Neponset River and Mother 
Brook, at the junction of the Providence and Midland divisions and the 
Dedham branch of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad. On 
the northern border of the Neponset River flood plain, the large elliptical 
race track of the New England Association is readily distinguished. The 
population of Hyde Park is 11,826. 

Dedham. 
The town of Dedham lies on the south-western border of the model, 
between the Charles and Neponset rivers, and includes the great bend of 
the Charles, where, meandering in its flood plain, the river flows some four 
miles to gain one-eighth of that distance, as can be judged by the " cut- 
off " ditch trenched across the marsh at the head of the bend. Near the 
southernmost portion of the bend the Mother Brook channel has been dug 
back to the Charles River in order to increase the water supply for the 
mills of the lower Neponset. A considerable portion of Dedham is 
covered with evergreen and hard-wood growth. Nearly a score of iso- 
lated villages are distributed throughout the town. Dedham village lies 
near the southernmost turn of tiie Charles on the Boston & Providence 
Railroad ; East Dedham about a mile east on Mother Brook ; Oakdale and 
Endicott within the large triangle made by the railroads. Green Lodge, 
the second crossing from the edge of the model, on the Boston & Provi- 
dence Railroad ; Islington, a village on the Midland branch, a little over 
a mile from the edge ; and West Dedham on the western slope of Fox 
Hill, 323 feet high, on the very circumference, are outlying settlements 
which come within the limits of the model. The estimated population is 
7,211. 



35 



N'oriuood. 
The central portion of Norwood lies just outside the area, near the head 
of the brook which empties into the Neponset. Ellis Station, on the 
Midland branch of the New England division, a little over half a mile 
from the border, is the only village which appears within the area under 
consideration. The population of Norwood is 4,574. 

Western Border and Charles River Towns. 

Needham. 
Needham lies north-west of Dedham, occupying the big bend between 
the west and north banks of the Charles, the drainage all flowing into this 
river. The village of Needham is situated on the Woonsocket division, 
two miles from the edge of the model. Highlaudville is on the same rail- 
road one mile nearer Boston. Charles River village lies at the falls where 
the Charles River first comes upon the area. The greater portion of the 
river which lies in this town is modelled from very detailed maps, — of five 
feet and less contour intervals, — including those of the Brookline Water 
Reservation, the Newton Water Reserve, and the Hemlock Gorge Reserva- 
tion. Trees, both evergreen and deciduous, are quite evenly distributed 
throughout the town. The population is 3,511. 

Wellesleif. 

The eastern half of the town of Wellesley lies north of Dedham on the 
western border of the model, its eastern boundary being the Charles 
River, and Wellesley village, on the Boston & Albany Railroad, is cut by 
the circumference. Wellesley Hills is about one mile further east, on the 
same railroad, at the foot of Maugus Hill, 320 feet high. Wellesley 
Farms is another mile further east of the latter station. The population 
of Wellesley is 4,229. 

Newton. 

On the opposite bank of the Charles from Wellesley is Newton, the 
Upper Falls occurring where the river has been turned upon the hard 
rocks in the narrow Hemlock Gorge — a metropolitan park reservation. 
A carriage road crosses the river just above the falls, and a short distance 
below is Echo bridge, whose central arch of 130 feet span carries the 
Sudbury aqueduct. Newton borders the Charles River for some sixteen 
miles, the stream being on its western and the greater part of its northern 
border. With its fifteen villages Newton occupies one of the largest areas 
of any town in the Metropolitan District. Newton Upper Falls is the 
village (with several tall chimneys) just above the Hemlock Gorge, on the 



36 

Woonsocket division. Newton Lower Falls appears as a cluster of mills 
about two miles below the Upper Falls, the terminus of a branch of the 
Boston & Albany Railroad. Riverside is the next station below on the bank 
of the Charles. Auburndale lies a half mile further east, near the pond- 
like expansion of the river, where it is fretted with irregular coves, iu 
which lie Auburndale and the River parks. West Newton is on the same 
railroad, one mile east, on the side of a 200-foot hill, on Cheesecake 
Creek. Newtouville is situated still a mile further east, on Laundry 
Brook, and the village of Newton ou the lower reach of the Charles. 
Nonantum is on the Charles west of Newton, between Laundry aud 
Cheesecake brooks. Chestnut Hill lies just west of the Chestnut Hill 
Reservoir ou the eastern border of the town. Newton Centre stands ou 
the highlands near Crystal Lake, in the ceutral portion, about a mile west, 
on the Circuit Railroad.. Newton Highlands is the next station west, at 
the junction of the Circuit road. Bald Pate Hill, 318 feet, and Oak, the 
western hill, 240 feet, are prominent heights iu the southern part of the 
town. The population of Newton is 27,590. 

Weston. 
The eastern portion of the town of Weston comes on the border of the 
model west of Newtou, the drainage flowing eastward into the Charles. 
The Cambridge water reserve basin lies along the eastern border of the 
town, receiving the water of Stony Brook and Hobbs Brook. Near by 
stands Norumbega Tower. Doublet Hill, 360 feet, lies south-west of this 
locality. The three villages included are Riverside, Stony Brook, a sta- 
tion on the Fitchburg Railroad near the head of the Cambridge water 
reservation, and Kendal Green, one mile west, on the same road between 
Cat Rock, a hill 300 feet high, north-west, and Bear Hill, Waltham, which 
is 340 feet. The population of Weston is 1,710. 

Waltham. 
Waltham is the next town on the Charles, below Weston and Newton. 
The closely built portion is situated along both banks of the river, in the 
vicinity of the falls, where numerous factories aud chimneys are located. 
The great Hobbs Brook storage basin, the largest reservoir in the Metro- 
politan District, lies among the hills in the valley of the brook, on the 
western edge of the model. Meal or Hardy's Pond, from which Beaver 
Brook empties into the Charles, lies about a mile east of this large sheet 
of water. Prospect Hill, with two peaks, the elevations next in altitude 
— 482 feet — in the Metropolitan District to the Blue Hills Range, lies iu 
the western aud thickly wooded portion of the town. Prospectville is a 
small settlement under the western slope of the hill. Riverview is a station 



37 

ou the Fitchbiug Railroad. Tlie population of the city of "Waltham is 
20,876. It is situated between the Massachusetts Central and the Fitch- 
burg railroads. 

Lincoln. 

The uortheru portion of the Hobbs Brook basin lies in the town of 
Lincoln. The population of the town is 1,111. 

Watertoiun. 

Watertown lies along the north bank of the Charles, east of AYaltham. 
The bridge crossing the Charles from Newton runs into the town proper, 
which is on the Watertown branch of the Fitchburg Railroad. Directly 
north, on White's Hill, 160 feet, is the water tower, and at the north- 
western corner of the town, in Mount Auburn Cemetery, stands the Mount 
Auburn observatory. The United States Arsenal grounds lie along the 
river bank at the second bridge. Bemis is a village at the western end of 
the town, on the same railroad and river. Union Market Station is one 
mile east of the centre of the town, to the west of which may be seen the 
Boston Union Stock Market sheds. East Watertown station is about a 
half mile further east. The population of Watertown is 7,788. 

Metropolitan park reservations occur along the banks of the Charles 
River throughout the town, except where the government or towu has 
taken land. In fact, both banks of the Charles, from Dedham south, 
with a few small exceptions, are devoted to public parks. 

GEO. CARROLL CURTIS. 

Boston, Mass., U. S. A., May, 1900. 



APPENDIX. 



The following are maps used in the construction of the model: — 

U, 8. Coast and Geodetic Survey, 
22ol!fv!-!!2Tu^iir2ui ""lu"'" ^ ' ^'^'"'^ '"''"" '"POSraphio BhcetB, Nob. 2190, 2197, 2180, 2155, 2116, 

U. 8. Qeologicai, Surtet. 
Photographic reductions from revised and recontoured maps of the tollowing towns and places • — 
Be mont, Boston (Dorchester portion), Cambridge, Everett, Hyde Park, Lynn, Medford Melrose 
Newton. Kevere Somerville, Wallham, Winchester (uncontoured). Woburn (uncontiured) Watertown' 
Arlington. Brookline, Maiden, Milton. Neponset River (Walpole to Milton Lower MilU)RosbuTv' 
Saugus and Lynn (uncontoured), Wakedeld, West Roxbury. Belmont Reservoir. Lexington Swamn' 
scott, Lynn Woods, Milton and Quinoy. Three Bheets. including parts of Dedham and Randolph "^^ 

Metkopolitan Reservation Maps from Olmsted Brothers. 

Portions of Brookline "^f^; 

Peter's Hill, .... 1?X 

Alewife Brook \ ] *" 

Charles River. Brookline Water Works to'Spri'ng Street 

Charles River. Nahanton Street to Hemlock Qoi 
Charles Kiver. Spring Street to Mother Brook. . 



40 
00 
100 



Charles River. Nahanton Street to Hemlock Gorge Reservation. '. inn 



^^''jj,^,^ ^Z"j ^y'^'}°°J'°'^,'^S.^^^^^ '"> ^i^^^^ ■ ' i ! ." ! ! 100 



Charles River, Moody Street Bridge to Watertown Line, . . inn 

Hemlock Gorge Rei-ervalion (two topos). one, • jn 

Hemlock Gorge Reservation, one, 



Furnace Brook Parkway, Adams Street to Blue Hills Reservation, •"» 

rkway, Paul's Bridge to Blue "■■• ~ 

arkway. Weld Street to Anaw: 

rkway, Charles River to Stony 
Neponset River Reservation, Gulliver's Creek jqq 



Bolster Brook ParkwayVPaui's Bri"dge"tJrBluTHnirRr87rva°ion!' ^°* 

u est Roxbury Parkway, Weld Street to Anaw.in Street, 

Mother Brook Parkway, Charles River to Stony Brook Reservation, inn 



W«9_t Roxbuj^y parkway ,^Weld S^reet^o"jrn'aw.io^ .'.'.'!!'" '40 



Neponset River Reservation, Glenwood Avenue to Mattapan Station, ' inn 

Neponset River Reservation, Mattapan Station to Milton Station, inn 

Neponset River Reservation, Neponset Station to Milton Station . ' foo 

Neponset River Reservation, Milton Station to Atlantic Station, . ion 

Neponset River Reservation, Mother Brook to Neponset River, Stony Brook Reservation," ' ' JoO 

W fist K.OT nilrv Port von tt A pti>->Ii4 A >-Kr. >»•.. .h» *^ TXT.,! i,:'. .. ' .ivw 



^eetRosbury Parkway, Arnold Arboretum to WeM Street, 40 

Cbares Kiver Parkway, Extension of Esplanade to Brookline street. . . ' inn 



West Roxbury Parkway, Washington Street to Anawan Street, . 40 

J^!;?!,!!S:\':!!£''^'^_™5'' !?"'''''.S:P'aii_Magazine Street to Brookline Street, '.'.'.'.] lo 



n^?I' ■i^'"''',?.^'''*'' '^'''""°S P'"° '°'' "''' ''■■"'i''0"''«8 a' Captain's Island Playground, .' ' 40 

Furnace Brook Parkway, yuincy Shore to Adams Street. .... * im 

Neponset River Reservation, Paul's Bridw to Walpole Line. ... ' ' " 100 

Charles River Reservation. Nahanton Street to .Spring Street, . . ' ' ' 100 

Charles River Reservation, Auburndale Park to Weston Bridge, 100 

Charles River Reservation, Moody Street to Auburndale Park, . . Joo 

Charles River Reservation, Weston Bridge to Newton Lower Falls . 100 

Blue Hills Parkway, Canton Avenue to Reservation, ... jn 

Squantum Shore ?" 

Mystic River Reservation, Boston Avenue to Craddock Bridge, '. inn 

Mystic River Reservation, Craddock Bridge to Feilsway, . ?nn 

Cambridge Common, ... oj: 

Fresh Pond, ; ;j9 

Cotymore Lea [ [ n.'™! 

Hltchmes Field, . . ^'V^ 

Rindge Field '.'.'.'.'. In 

Dorchester Park, ..... 1 ! ! jn 

King's Beach, ... ,^ 

Craddock Field '.'.'.'.''' 30 

40 

The following lithographs : — 

Public Reservation Charles River, ... onn 

Fells Reservation ™ 

Park System, Boston Common to Franklin Park, ". '. 7,n 

Stony Brook Reservation, Topo !„„ 

Blue Hills Reservation, Topo., . . ITi 

Wood Island Park, .... ™" 

Charlestown Heights, ... '™ 

Copp's Hill Terraces 5x 

General Plan Franklin Park, -Si 

Franklin Field. Topo 30o 

Charles River Speedway. ' ' ' ° ' ' ' ° ' ' t„„ 

Cambridge Field ™ 

Mystic Valley Parkway, ... i™ 

Blue Hills Parkway ?™ 

Fells Parkway ™^ 

Charles River Embankment •.'.'.'.'.*' 100 

* One hundred feet to the Inch. 



Mystic Valley Parkway North, Walnit Street to Fells Reservation, ^° 



OUI 1 1900 




Cut 32._OutlIne Map or the Metropolitan District 



0« 



LIBRftRY OF CONGRESS 



014 078 132 



